AMARANTHACEAE - AMARANTH FAMILY Plant: mostly herbs (annual or perennial) - some termed weeds such as the pigweeds; rarely shrubs, vines or trees Stem: Root: sometimes with tap root Leaves: mostly simple, mostly entire, alternate or opposite, may be curved, wavy, crinkled, or waxy; spines ± at base of leaves; no stipules Flowers: mostly perfect but sometimes imperfect (monoecious or dioecious); no petals; mostly 2-5 (rarely 0 or 1) sepals, greenish to purplish, inconspicuous in dense terminal clusters or spikes; bracts greenish and tough; stamens usually 5 or rarely less, usually matching sepals; ovary superior and 1 chambered, 1 pistil, carpels usually 2 or (3-5), 1-2+ styles or absent Fruit: 1- seeded utricle or nutlet, sometimes a capsule, berry or drupe Other: most abundant in tropics, locally introduced and especially common at borders of farm fields; Dicotyledons Group Genera: 69+ genera; locally Achyranthes, Alternanthera, Amaranthus (amaranth), Celosia, Froelichia (cottonweed), Iresine (bloodleaf) WARNING – family descriptions are only a layman’s guide and should not be used as definitive AMARANTHACEAE - AMARANTH FAMILY Green [Redroot] Amaranth [Rough Pigweed]; Amaranthus retroflexus L. Spiny Amaranth; Amaranthus spinosus L. Silverhead [Saltweed]; Blutaparon vermiculare (L.) Mears Plains [Field] Snakecotton [Cottonweed]; Froelichia floridana (Nutt.) Moq. Slender Snakecotton [Cottonweed]; Froelichia gracilis (Hook.) Moq. Juda's Bush [Eastern Bloodleaf]; Iresine rhizomatosa Standl. Green [Redroot] Amaranth [Rough Pigweed] USDA Amaranthus retroflexus L. Amaranthaceae (Amaranth Family) Maumee River Metroparks, Lucas County, Ohio Notes: 5 sepaled flower (no petals), green, monoecious, many lateral floral branchlets on terminal spike; leaves ovate-lanceolate, petioles long; stem and leaf stalk hairy, no nodal spines; common plant, especially at edges of cultivated fields (also called Careless Weed, Wild-Beet, Rough Green Pigweed); summer to fall [V Max Brown, 2005] Spiny Amaranth USDA Amaranthus spinosus L. (Introduced) Amaranthaceae (Amaranth Family) Sam A. Baker State Park, Wayne County, Missouri Notes: no petals, 5 green sepals, flowers in clusters and both terminal (usually staminate) and in axils or nodes (usually pistillate); leaves lanceolate to elliptical, widest below middle; stems often branching, usually a pair of spines at axils or nodes; tall plant often in disturbed areas; summer to fall [V Max Brown, 2006] Silverhead [Saltweed] USDA Blutaparon vermiculare (L.) Mears Amaranthaceae (Amaranth Family) Cedar Key, Levy county, Florida Notes: vine; dioecious; inflorescences white to pink (drying silver-white), cylindrical, composed of tepals; leaves opposite, fleshy, linear to somewhat lanceolate; stem mostly prostrate, fleshy, glabrous and branching; a costal, salt tolerant plant; year round flowering [V Max Brown, 2012] Plains [Field] Snakecotton USDA [Cottonweed] Froelichia floridana (Nutt.) Moq. Amaranthaceae (Amaranth Family) Alley Springs, Ozark National Riverways, Shannon County, Missouri Notes: no petals, 5-lobed flask-shaped calyx, small opening at top, calyx tube with deeply toothed longitudinal wings on the sides (see photo on right); leaves lanceolate, largest leaves up to 3 cm wide; stems often branching from base, up to 2 m; cottony (hairy) plant; summer to early fall [V Max Brown, 2010] Slender Snakecotton [Cottonweed] USDA Froelichia gracilis (Hook.) Moq. Amaranthaceae (Amaranth Family) Wire Road Conservation Area, Stone County, Missouri Notes: no petals, calyx conical shaped, small opening at top, sessile, rows of sharp spines; leaves lanceolate, largest leaves up to 15 mm wide, 12 cm long, mostly lanceolate; stems often branching from base, up to 70+ cm; cottony (hairy) plant; late spring to early fall [V Max Brown, 2014] Juda's Bush [Eastern Bloodleaf] USDA Iresine rhizomatosa Standl. Amaranthaceae (Amaranth Family) Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area, Christian County, Missouri Notes: dioecious; inflorescences terminal and in upper axils, flowers small and white; leaves opposite, petiolate, mostly ovate, thin, entire or finely toothed; bottomlands and stream banks; late summer to fall [V Max Brown, 2010].